It’s called “vanity sizing,” and it’s the reason why you find out your size is different at the various stores in the mall. It’s an infamous way marketers use to influence women buyers, but they do it for men as well.

The folks at Esquire’s Style blog put together this nifty graphic on the real size of pants, compared with what the brands advertise (for men’s pants):

Apparently marketers think that the vanity factor outweighs the confusion the sizes create for customers.

One solution out there for consumers is a body scanner called MyBestFit, which can tell you your size in various brands. It’s kind of creepy and airport-like, but it works.

What do you think of this practice? Do you want brands to make you feel better about yourself, or do you think they’re just lying to you?

Well this is kinda wacky. Citing a “very credible source,” Digg founder Kevin Rose tweeted that Google is readying “Google Me,” a social service intended to go toe-to-toe (face-to-face?) with Facebook. It’s like Google stalking, but official, and thus marginally less creepy!

Google Buzz, their most recent foray into social networking, was not a resounding success (read: total privacy shitshow) and I imagine there’s some lingering skepticism about Google’s ability to actually keep all of its users information on lockdown.

Then again, they already know just about everything there is to know about you, so maybe it’d be easier to forget Facebook altogether and just click a button in Gmail that says, “Yes! Cull your extensive records to make a “Google Me” profile in my best image, selectively including the photographs and personal interests likeliest to get me laid.” Kidding, kidding, I promise that’s not what I’m all about. Seriously! Google me! [Kevin Rose via Runnin Scared and SF Weekly]

Digital Consigliere

Dr. Augustine Fou is Digital Consigliere to marketing executives, advising them on digital strategy and Unified Marketing(tm). Dr Fou has over 17 years of in-the-trenches, hands-on experience, which enables him to provide objective, in-depth assessments of their current marketing programs and recommendations for improving business impact and ROI using digital insights.